BURMESE GRAMMAR

BY

James E. BRIDGES, m.a.,

Late Indian Civie Service.

BURMESE GRAMMAR

BY

James E. BRIDGES, m.a.,

L ate I nd ian Civ il Se r v ic e .

R angoon :

BRITISH BURMA PRESS-

1915.

PRICE Rs. 3* I TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PART I—Alphabet and Pronunciation. Page. Vowels ...... • n —i.X Consonants ...... ••• X7Tv^f Compound Consonants — •••, Permutations ...... ••• X^“ XAX Burmese Names of Letters and Symbols ...... xx—xxiii Conjunct Consonants ... '••• ••• xxiii Tones ...... — xxiii—xxv Pronunciation of Burmese ...... ••• xxvi—xxxv Punctuation ...... — ••• xxxv Abbreviations ...... xxxvi—xxxvn PART 28—Modern Burmese. Articles ...... ••• 1 Nouns ...... 1 Proper Nouns ...... ••• 2 Adjectival or Verbal Nouns ...... ••• 3 Gender ...... 3—4 Number ...... 6 Declension ...... 6—6 Personal Pronouns ...... — 6—11 Reflexive Pronouns ...... • •• H Reciprocal Pronouns ...... • •• 1.1 Interrogative Pronouns and Adverbs ...... I2 Indefinite Pronouns and Adverbs ...... 13 Relative Pronouns ...... ••• 16—16 Adjectives ...... 16—17 Comparative ...... 17 Superlative ...... 13 Demonstrative Adjectives ...... ••• 13 Possessive Adjectives ...... 19 Indefinite Adjectives, ...... 19 Distributive Adjectives ...... 20 Cardinal Numbers ...... 21 Ordinals ... ( ...... 22 Fractions ...... 23 Weights ...... 23 Measures of Length ...... • ... 23 Measures of Capacity ...... 23 Numeral Affixes ...... 24—29 Money ...... 30 Verbs ...... 3C ( H ) Page. Indicative Mood ...... ' ... ••• 31 Imperative Mood ...... ••• 31—32 Plural of Verbs ...... 33 Infinitive ...... 33—34 Present ...... ••• 35 Imperfect ...... ••• 35 Future ...... 35 Perfect ... ••• — — 36—37 Causative Verbs ...... • •« 37 Transitive Verbs ...... » 37 Passive Voice ...... 38 Compound Verbs ...... 39 Pali Verbs ...... •». ... Affirmation and Negation ...... 40 Negation ...... ••• 41—43 Interrogation ...... 43 Idiomatic Use of Burmese Verbs ...... 45 Verb ‘to b e ’ and ‘ to have ’ ... /...... 47—49 Adjectival Verbs ...... ••• 49 Auxiliary Verbal Affixes ...... 50—55 The Honorific Affix ...... ••• ... _ 55 Honorific Verbs and Nouns ...... • .55—57 Adverbs ...... 57—61 The Adverb hmya ...... ••• 52 Prepositions ...... 63—66 Secondary Nouns ...... 66—68 Co-ordinating Conjunctions ...... 68—70 Subordinating Conjunctions ...... — 70—75 Interjections ...... 75 Noun clause as subject or direct object ...... 75 Noun clause in the possessive ...... 77 Noun clause with words spoken ...... 78—80 Noun clauses with hpyit and shi ...... 30 General remarks on noun clauses ...... 81—82 Time ...... 82-84 Dates ...... 84 Compound Nouns ...... 87—92 Construction of the Burmese Sentence ...... 93 Burmese Correspondence ...... 9i—97 Idiomatic Use of Burmese Words ...... 98 Appendix I—Interrogative Pronouns and Adverbs ... 100 Appendix II—Indefinite Pronouns and Adverbs ... 102 Appendix III—Conjunctions ...... 104

PART III—Literary Language. Declension ...... 106 Personal Pronouns ...... 108 Interrogative Pronouns and Adverbs ...... 108 ( i» ) Page. Indefinite Pronouns and Adverbs ...... 408 Relative Pronouns ...... ••• I ~ Adjectives ... ••• ••• ••• Numeral Affixes ...... — ••• j* Verbs. Tense Affixes ... ••• ••• ••• •*£ Interrogation ... — ••• ••• Negation ... ••• ••• ••• , . Verbal Affixes ... — ••• ••• 11K Emphatic Affixes ...... ••• ••• | & A Adverbs ...... — ••• b Prepositions ... ••• ••• ••• Conjunctions ...... ••• — * Pali Words ...... 128 Pali Prayers ...... 128-1-9 PART IV—Colloquial Language. Declension ...... ••• ••• JfO Pronouns ...... I^1 Interrogative Pronouns and Adverbs ...... 131 Indefinite Pronouns and Adverbs ...... ls3 Relative Pronouns ...... — ^ 4 Adjectives ...... • •• *34 Demonstrative Adjectives ...... 434 Numbers ...... ••• ^ 5 Verbs ...... 135 Interrogation ...... — 436 Negation ...... \36 Verbal Affixes ...... — ^7 E m phatic Affixes ...... ••• 137 Conjunctions ...... — ^ 8 Adverbs ...... — 139 Prepositions ...... 139 Noun Clauses ...... 339 Colloquial Forms ...... 141—146 8

v,-*“ ------■ * ■ BURMESE MANUAL

P i KT I.

The Alphabet and Pronunciation.

Burmese is atonal language belonging to the Mongo­ lian family like Chinese and Siamese. It is a monosyllabic language, but in the course of time some syllables have lost their meaning and become amalgamated with others. With the spread of Buddhism into Burma, Pali became the reli­ gious language of the people and many words of more than 'One syllable were introduced into the language. i BURMESE MANUAL. (i) The alphabet is derived from the square Pali and con­ sists of 42 letters of which 32 are consonants and 10 vowels.. (ii) The vow els are : Symbol or form Initial form. of vowel when combined with Value. Generally in In Burmese consonants to Pali words. words. form words.

1 2 3 4

30 30 no n - a 330 300 3 or "1 * a O co 38 i O d 38 i e or § 3 ^ I u § a u c c c e 33 30 e: foo or c S o C300 G—0 aw c { § 5 C3oS c —5 aw 0 30 30 an 3 ^ 3^ 0 0 3^ 1 on

Note.— 1 is used instead of 0 with the consonants Oil Oil Gil 3 1 OH and OH as the use of 0 with these letters would lead to confusion by making them resemble other letters, thus OO w a might be mistaken for

0 0 t a BURMESE MANUAL. iii The vowels are only used in the form given in column i (except 30 a, 30 D a and 30 e :) when the vowel itself forms a word or is placed at the beginning of words of Pali origin; thus co j soft, J this, g u egg, Q ® 0 a w - z a relish. They are more generally combined with the vowel 30 as shown in column 2.

Burmese grammarians include 30 an amongst the vowels. It is a nasal letter called in Pali anuthwara and in Burmese COOSCOOSOOS th e -.-M e '-tin (from the:-///©: ‘ small’ or ‘minute1 and 008 tin ‘ to place on The vowels are only written in their original character when they form distinct words or are part of a compound word. When combined with consonants to form words, they are always represented by the symbols given in column 3. iv BURMESE MANUAL. The sound and transliteration of each vowel are as follows :

Repre­ Vowel. Symbol. Pronuncia­ Example. sented in tion * transliter­ ation by

a in rural 33© = asa a none s < a in amiss o ma a 339 o or 1 a in fu r 339003 = a ana or 33 o z *n pig 8 = mee i o g j or 35 i in machine oQ = mee i g or § or 3^ I o in boot gog —00- u doo § o r s ? II oo in pooh gsO^zzOo u 1 00 G or G33 G ay in say go — may e j£> nearly as ai o = pe e: in fair (eg or g ego G-9 or G-l aw in law GO^ = paw aw or G339 c(5}5 or G33$ g-5 or g-T aw in drawl coi = paw aw 33 • an un in dun 3g33 = an hswe:-an o in holy § = po 3^ O i 0 1 I o in pot, knot gcS = » pyok • L on in cone ^j=zyon on

an should be pronounced without letting the tip of the tongue touch the roof of the mouth. ( S. K., page 1.) * It is exceedingly difficult to give the exact sound of Burmese vowels in English as they correspond more to continental than to English vowels. 3311 33911 0S11 uSll Oil c£> 1/3^ are the French vowels a or e, A, i, 1, e and fc and il 3^ is the German or Italian u. BURMESE MANUAL. V (iii) Consonants.—When not combined with any other letter every consonant has the sound of the vowel 3D inherent in it, thus cc = ka. o —sa.

The consonants are: ( 0 G utturals. co ka d hka O ga co ga c nga.

(2) P alatals. o sa So hsa O' za qj za jOO nya.

(3) Cerebrals* ta g hta c? da Z) da coo na> '------j (4) Dentals. co ta co hta 3 da o da na, V.______J (5) Labials. o pa c hpa O ba oojba o ma. (6) Liquids. co ya q+ya co la g la. (7) Semi-vowel. O wa. (8) Sibilant. CO tha || (sometimes pronounced hard as th in thirst and sometimes soft as th in thee> thine}. (9) A spirate. OO ha.

In the consonants bracketed together, the aspirated letter has the same sound as the non-aspirate. * Cerebals and g la are noc of frequent occurrence and are only found in words of Pali origin. f The tendency of modern Burmese is to substitute CO for 0 when­ ever possible and 00 is then pronounced hpa. £ This letter is commonly pronounced ya, but in Arakan and in a few words, especially those derived from the Pali, it is pronounced ra. 11 Hard tli is transliterated th and soft th is transliterated tfu vi BURMESE MANUAL. The student should be careful to pronounce the Bur­ mese unaspirated consonants k, s, t, p without any aspira­ tion whatever. This is somewhat difficult as these conso­ nants are aspirated in English*; thus the aspiration is clearly heard in such words as king, cat (and still more in the German kann and somewhat less in sea, tame, pipe. These unaspirated consonants should therefore not be pronounced like English consonants, but like French conso­ nants in such words as comment, savoir, toujours, pouvoir in which no aspiration at all is heard. The student will have no difficulty in pronouncing the Burmese aspirated consonants as it is only necessary to exaggerate somewhat the aspiration of the same English consonants. The only other consonant'which requires notice is rrga which is a guttural sound, pronounced without allowing the tongue to touch the palate. At the end of a word, it has the sound ng as heard in hang. c 8 o OD COD ° 9 GOD 6b CCO3 cooS CO < 9 ka ka ki ki ku ku ke k£ : kaw kaw kan ko o l S ccT o C 9 9 CO b Col 0 hka hka hki hki hku hku hke hke : hkaw hkaw hikan hko o c o l c o T O 8 8 9 9 CO b O Q ga ga gi gi gu gu ge gfc : gaw gaw gan go c l 8 8 c c l c c T § C 9 9 c o b Oo nga nga ngi ngi ngu ngu nge ngfc: ngaw ngaw ngan ngo o O OD 8 8 9 9 GO b COD c o l o § sa sa si si su SU se s& : saw saw san so o CO COD s8 08 ®9 a? CCO db GOOD c s o 5 co hsa hsa hsi hsi hsu hsu hse hs£ : hsaw hsaw hsan hso

* See Primer of Phonetics by H enry Sweet, M.A., §123, and following. BURMESE MANUAL. vii

o (?) 0)0 a § G & CO)0 CO)S (?) Q

.za za zi zi zu ZU ze z£: zaw zaw zan zo

£03 £§ a a ce =53° ®s5 e £ e§ nya nva nyi nyi nyu nyu nye ny£: nyaw nyaw nyan nyo

<’03 000 c8 88 £03 6b GOO 3' goo5 co ta ta ti ti tu tu te t£: taw taw tan to

o 00 ODD 08 08 00 co

c^>5 © 1 ?> P $ $ $ s G p * na na ni ni nu nu ne ne: naw naw nan no

6 O o l 8 8 £ 0 b Gol co T § pa pa Pi Pi pu pu pe p£: paw paw pan po © < 8 c

ma ma mi mi mu m u me me: maw maw man mo oS 08 o CO 003 O£ ° 2 GOO 6b COO3 cooS oo ccj5 o cp 8 c c p 8 § -ya ya y1 yi yu yu ye y£: yaw yaw yan yo viii BURMESE MANUAL. o CO COO c8 c8 ° 2 CCO cb GOTO Cco5 03 la la ii li lu lu le lfc: law law lan lo

8 8 c o T o O o l 2 2 CO Q c o l O § wa wa wi wi wu WU we w£: waw waw wan wo o3 oS © OO 300 °2 COO 6b c o o o c o o 5 30 3 tha tha thi thi thu thu the the: thaw thaw than tho

c 8 o OO 030 c8 °2 COO 6b COOO c c o 5 OO ha ha hi hi hu hu he he: haw haw han ho (iv) Compound consonants.—Compound con­ sonants are formed by combining simple consonants with one or more of the four consonants co ya? q and co which are then written in a symbolic form.

Combined with Consonant. Symbol. Represented in CO transliteration by*

OO ya J c q f kya, gya. ya G

* G-ya in chis combination is pronounced as the English j ; ch is soft as in church. Taw Sein Ko remarks (p. 3) : “ In the combination CQj k y a the k should not be pronounced separately from the y, but both should be sounded together, care being taken that the k is not in the least aspirated. This may be accomplished by keeping the teeth together before attempting the pronunciation of the combination. Thus the pronunciation of Kyaukse approximates more to Chaukse than to K(a)yaukse which is generally heard amongst Europeans.” BURMESE MANUAL.

Oq) cqp O§ cq][ Oqj|[ COQ] O^J coqp ccqjS oqj o^_ @ s g o ILe g g ©(op ©gq5 (p (c§ kyi kyi kyu kyu kye kye : kyaw kyaw kyan kyo 9J 91 3 911 911L cqj C9 P c q j5 g S : 8 g @1 Sil e g g e g o c g 5 g chi chi chu chu che che : chaw chaw chan cho 3 91 9J: q 9; I 9111 Cqj c q p cq]5 qj $ S S: @ 19 S 6 n c S (§ e g o c(q 5 g pya pya pyi pyi pyu pyu pye pye : pyawpyaw pyan pyo x 9) 9 P <§ 9? 911 91 IL C91 91' cqjo cqj5 qi g g o @ g @[ Sil cS 6 ego cg5 g° g hpya hpya hpyi hpyi hpyu hpyu hpye hpye lipyaw lipyaw hpyan hpyo 91 9 P 91L 91L C91 91 ®9P cop q] S 6 ° B B Sl Sil gS S e g o c g 5 g g mya mya myi myi myu myu mye my& : my aw myaw my an myo (V)

Combined with Represented in Consonant. Symbol. CO transliteration by

wa kwa O 6 °2

°2 p o eo g kwa kwa kwi kwi kwe kw& : o s §0 8 . 8 e g hkwa hkwa hk wi hkwl hikwe hkw& : o o g g 3 g . g c g 9 ngwa ngwa ngwi ngwi ngwe ngwfc: BURMESE MANUAL.

(vi)

Combined with Sym­ 0 Represented in Consonant. bol. CO or Cj transliteration by CO and CO

03 ha hma J s CO ya and S '5 1 sha CO ha j! °SJ hlya but pron. sha

C| ya and 1 c hmya 03 ha j si and S i S S 3 e§ SL SILGS S C£SGS 5 s $

1 hnya hnya hnyi hnyi hnyn hnyn linye linyfc: liny aw hnyaw hnyan hnyo ? JP ? J fc ill G? > G?° G?5 > S

hna hna lini hm linu. linn hne hn&: hnaw lmaw hnan lino 9

hma hma hmi hmi hmn hmn lime hme: hmaw hmaw hman hmo CXp O J 3 Xp X} op|[ COJ exp GOJ3 COjS OJ C$>°

51 51° 8 51 51 51 C51 C5 P G51^ 51 f i

■sha sha shi shi shn shn she sh&: shaw shaw slian sho si sp 3 4 sn sin gsi s) gsp csi5 si 4 § 5b @ @ Si Sil gS S g@° cS5 S’ 0 hmya hmya hmyi hmyi hmyu hmyu hmye hmyibhmyaw hmyawhmyan hmyo BURMESE MANUAL. XI cgfcgp c§ ofj cgj[ cc^ cgjccgp ccgjS cgj c$ aha aha shi sin shu shu she she : shaw shaw shan sho (vii)

Combined with Represented Consonant. Symbol. in translitera­ 00 and Q tion by t

CO ya and 11 1 ° a O wa 1 1 >kyua, gyua Gj ya and 1 n I 1 IS O wa 1 to J J Gj } a, o wa 'I B and oo ha > u hmyua. J

° a GCg]? <%! G s kyua kyue : kyue : a ®gf §1 § cl OS chua chua chue : chue: i d l l CE 6 hmyue hmyu£ : shwe shwd :

* The correct pronunciation of this combination is hlya, but in the spoken language, it is generally pronounced sha. Xll BURMESE MANUAL. (viii) Permutations of final Consonants.— We have seen (§ iii7 that every consonant in Burmese has the sound 3D a inherent in it, but many consonants at the end of words do not end with the sound a and are then marked by the sign ^called ' athat ’ 3DOOo5 ‘ that which kills/ Such final consonants change their sound and the vowels and the semi-vowel O wa which precede them also change their sound ; these changes are called permuta­ tions and are shown in the following tables : — (ix) When the vowel 30 a is combined with the follow­ ing final consonants the combination is pronounced as fol­ lows : —

o5 s s cS or 5 § or 8 o5

k ng s ny t or p n or m y ♦ et in it 1, t e, in or e at an e 0 Burmese cooS oS CO 0 3 g5 thi O3cS tat p a n : cooS lfc example. let win sit iiyin CO 8 lat 0 8 : h p a n : @ g§ pye COgSs 16:

Vowel pro­ 'l1 fee 'I • nounced 1 sin i J-met sin sin [- fat fat fair as in Eng­ say 1 1 lish word. J fair J Note.— Final consonants are pronounced in Burmese without any escape of breath*—thus put in Burmese would be pronounced like put in ‘ put down’ and the k imyaik like c in active. * See Primer of Phonetics by Henry Sweet, m.a. § 143. ' t N ote.—It is only practise which will tell the student which of the four sounds g8 has ; sometimes a circular dot is placed ovqr g8 when it has the sound IHl thus nyhi. The sound is only used in colloquial language go5 §8 @8 g g go5 g$ gS gS goS myet myin myit myi myat myan myat myan my& go5 g5 g8 gg5 go5 g§ gS g

(x) When the vowel 38 i is combined with the fol- lowing final consonants the combination is pronounced as follows :

o5 or 5 $ or 8 t or p n or m

eik ein

Burmese example. 8o5 peik 3 8 $ ein. c 8 8 leik c8 S lein. 0

Vowel pronounced as English word. vein

c8o5 08S 8o5 88 c8o5 c8S 8p5 8|S

keik keik seik seik teik teik yeik yeik c8$ cBS 8$ 88 8$ 88 83$ cB8 8$ 88 kein kein hkein hkein sein sein tein tein pein pein

o^o5 ^c6 gS (§S

kyeik cheik kyeik cheik shein BURMESE MANUAL. XV

(xi) When the vowel u is combined with the fol­ lowing final consonants the combination is pronounced as follows :—

o5 or 8 or ° or (S t or p n or

ok on

Burmese example. ccpo5 yok OCp5 hton C

Vowel pronounced as bone in English word.

CCj>Cr5 ccpS S ccp<5 9

(xii) When the diphthong C30D aw is combined with •the following final consonants the combination is pro­ nounced as follows : —

oS 8 k ng

auk aung

Burmese example CODdoS kauk GOODS S kaung:

Vowel pronounced as LU VV in English word.

GOODClS GO3O$ gcoocjS ccpcS cooo8 kauk sauk tauk yauk kaung

cooS cood8 colS saung taung paung

c (o p o $ c(|oa5 c sjp S c(ogo8 ccgjooS kyauk chauk chaung kyaung hlyauk (shauk) C^poS shauk shaung BURMESE MANUAL. xvii

(xiii) When the diphthong 3^ o is combined with the following final consonants the combination is pronounced as follows •

oS 8 k ng aik aing

Burmese example cgoS laik cQS kaing

Vowel pronounced as in English word. lyre cQoS ^0$

o5 or § or £ or • t or p n or m

ut un

Burmese example ogo5 lut 0 mun :

Vowel pronounced as Lull in English word. DUJ1 xviii BURMESE MANUAL. Cgo5 ogoS cg$ 8 0g$ ga$ gy §

(xv) o wa combined with £} ya also takes the sound u

Ga <%) yua yue kyu£:

(xvi) o5 t and 8 P n and 8 m or n combined with o wa are pronounced not at and an, but ut and un. oo5 oS o^> oS 6 g. wut wut wun wun wun nun It is absolutely necessary that the student should learn by heart the vowels, their symbols, the consonants and the compound consonants, he should copy them out until he knows them thoroughly and then practise writing them out without looking at his book.

It is not however necessary for the student to attempt to learn the permutations by heart, it is sufficient if he will remember that the permutations are arranged according to vowels and he can look up the permutation of each word as he comes across it; thus in hsan,coo5 lat, OOpS thi,^o5 n£ the vowel is a and the permutations will be found in § (ix); in 8o5 seik and ^ o 5 yeik the vowels is i and the permutations will be found in § (x). BURMESE MANUAL. XIX In the permutations the vowels are changed as fol­ lows :— a = a, I, e, in or & : u = o or d (when preceded by ya combined with a consonant.) i = ei. o — ai. aw = au. vva = u (before t, p, n, m, or when combined with ya). The following table of permutations may be found useful for easy reference.

Combined with

Final Consonant. 30 aS 3 ^ C330 O a i u o aw wa

oS k et aik auk S ng in aing aung 6 s it £ § ny i, e, in, & : o5 t or <5 p at eik ok ut n or & m an ein on un o5 y d yok yu XX BURMESE MANUAL. BURMESE NAMES OF LETTERS AND SYMBOLS.

Consonants.—qjgSs byi:

OO = o o g s k a -g y i: great ka. 3 = oCg? hka°gwe : curled up hka. Gutturals. •! O = oco5 ga-ngO little ga. 03 = ao CO! ga-gyi: great ga. C — G nga.

O = CCg)S sa-Ion : round sa. 20 = OocSS hsa-lein: twisted hsa.

Palatals.

drawn za.

iron-hook ta. g = gO

Cerebrals. breasted da. 1 2? — £)GC|Cj{O$ da-ye-hmok water-dip - per da. 4 COO = COofc§* n a-gyi: great na. BURMESE MANUAL. xxi

CO = COoSsg ta-wun:-bu pot-bellied ta

CO = OOOoS OgS hta-hsin-du: elephant- fetter hta. Dentals. -! Q = ocogs da-dwe : youngest da. O = ©C303oSgoS da-auk-chaik con. cave-bottom da. = }>co5 na nce small na.

O = OcOCoS pa-zauk steep pa.

O = o^scgS hpa-ok-htok capped hpa O = GOOoSgoS ba-det-chaik con­ Labials. cave-top ba. OO = OOCg^S ba-fion : hunchback ba.

0 = 0 ma.

foO = OOOoScooS ya-pet-let supine ya Liquids -i; C| = GjCOOOoS ya-gauk crooked ya. CO = CO la.

Sem ivow el. 0 = 0 wa.

Sibilant CO = OO thss.

Aspirate. OO = 03 ha.

Liquid. 8 = Sa-flyi s g ^ a t la. xxii BURMESE MANUAL.

Vowels.—Q3C| tha-ya The vowels have no names but their symbols are named as follows ;

D or~| = qj cha placed down. O — cps(^sco8 8on:-gy i :-tin large circle placed on. = 0^s(o^CoSoo$Oc5 lon:-gyl:-tin-hsan- hkat large circle placed upon and kernel put in. [ = OQG^pSscS ta-chaimg:-ngin one line drawn. J[ = J>ScqpS?cS hna-chaung:-ngin two lines drawn. c = OOCOO^S tha-we-hto : thrust out. = cpoSoS nauk-pyit thrown backward. C— 3 or C-H = COCOONS}] tha-we-hto :-cha thrust out and placed down. C—5 or C—T = OOCOO^sqC^C^Stha-wa-hto :-cha-she- h to : thrust out, placed down, and thrust forward. = COOSCOOSOOS the:-tfie:-tin small or rpinute (thing) placed on. ° = O^sfc^sco6oo5gj?8sc8 ion :-gyi :-tin- ta-chaung :-ngin large circle placed on and one line drawn. BURMESE MANUAL. xxiii

[ = GOOSC3OSCoSc0Gqp8scS the -.-the tin-ta-chaungz-ngin small or minute (thing) placed on, and one line drawn. Consonant symbols. J = OOoS ya’ Pira ya lifting up- Q = G|^8 ya-yit ya encircling- 6 = ° ^ wa-hswe : wa suspended- J = OOcQs ha-hto : ha thrust out Conjunct consonants.—In many Pali words two letters of the same class are written one above the other and the top letter is a final consonant, thus oopO, this-sa. - Sometimes double consonants are found in Burmese words. These are not, however, conjunct consonants, but are merely placed over each other to save space in writing. thus cgOS = 3DODStha-ma: andjg^ooS s tha-m i: The final consonant is occasionally placed over the initial consonant of the next syllable ; thus for 3o8s ein:-gys jacket, OOCodo for OoSsCOOD thim :-feaw ship The 6 used in this way is called o o S § 2 kin :-zi : I 0t16S. (J. §37“39- L §51). There are three tones in Burmese, the simple, the checked and the heavy. The checked tone is denoted by a small round dot called C30DoS Qg auk-myit ' the understop 3 and is placed below a letter thus GO me 1 to forget.’ The heavy tone is denoted by two f round dots called Oo5c>ji>8c^2 wut-«a-hna-3on: or G^jColoS she-pauk they are placed after a letter thus GO2 nie: ‘ to ask? xxiv BURMESE MANUAL. In the simple tone the word is pronounced with a rising inflexion of the voice; in the checked tone the voice is suddenly checked or arrested; in the heavy tone the sound is prolonged with a falling inflexion. Taw Sein Ko (p. 3) advises the foreign student to use the following table to accustom himself to the correct utterance of the tonal inflections: GO COO OOOS 0 8 c 8 c8s c ^ ka ka k a : ki k i k i : ku ku ku: COO GOO COOS oooS 60 66 GOOO GOOD Coo 5 ke ke k© : ke ke ke : kaw kaw kaw 0 0 co co QOS kan kan k a n : There are many Burmese words; spelt alike and dis- tinguished only by these tones , so that the student should notice them as much as possible, thus : CCO06 taursg—hill, south. COQoS stiff. o COOo8“ basket, to demand, GOO08 htaung— prison, to set a trap, to place upright COO08 to Lend. o COOoSs to pound. Q 8 mysn— to see. high. S pony. CGj ye —water. CGp to write. icgO kya— water lily^ long. to hear, space between. BURMESE MANUAL. XXV 0 3 sa letter. 03$ to eat. CQdS saung— coverlet. c o o £ to watch, wait for. COZ)Ss harp, to be on one side. CCO e—air, wind. CCO to practise. CCOS bow («.), four, heavy. O^ pan— to ask leave, beg. O^S flower, tired, c l nga— I c b fish, five. q p h p y a — mat. q p ’ fever. g pya— to show. (cp ashes, blue. Q o : flat, level. C^> ne — sun, to stay. G^ day. GO me— to forget. COS to ask. CO we—to divide. co: far. 303 th a — pleasant. 003$ son. XXVI BURMESE MANUAL. Pronunciation of Burmese.* Hard consonants are softened when they come in con­ tact with vowels or nasal sounds in the same way as in many other languages, but in Burmese the change only takes place in pronouncing the word and not in writing and the consonant is affected by the letter which precedes it and not by the one that follows it, thus Q g kyi: large and OOQCQS hka-Ie: child when joined to such words as cq |u man and oSs min: king, ruler, are pronounced * as if they were written Qs gyi : and OCCOS ga-le : but the writing remains the same. lu -g yi: elder. C^OOGCOS lu-ga-le : boy. S min-gyi : great ruler. oSsOTCCOS min-ga-le : little ruler. The rule regarding these phonetic changes may be stated as follows :— (i) When two words or syllables, the first of which ends in a vowel or nasal sound (ng, ny, n or m) are placed side by side so as to form a new word or convey a single idea, the initial of the second word or syllable, i f it is a hard consonant is changed into a soft consonant, thus : CO ka or 3 hka becomes o ga. O sa or co becomes za, CO ta or CO bta becomes 3 d O pa or o bpa becomes 0 ba. Oqj kya or qj cha becomes qj gya. OO tha (hard) becomes 00 th& (soft).

* These rules are taken from different grammars (see Judson, §§ 33— 86 and § 78, Lonsdale §§ 47—50 and § 193, notes (1) and (2); Taw Sein Ko pp. 60—62 and 66—67). BURMESE MANUAL. XXVU Note.— This rule generally applies to single words ok more than one syllable in which the etymology of the parts has been lost; thus : oulg sa-ba-. paddy, qoCOS sa-ga: word but it does not apply to verbal nouns and other nouns beginning with 30 a, thus: 300^2 a -k y o : advantage, £»c(cgo£s a-kyaung: fact, OOOJS 3DOO§! a-kii: a-than: trading. It also applies to auxiliary verbal affixes, oSoOD thi- tka, hso-baing.

It does not apply to synonymous or nearly synony­ mous verbs, but it often applies in the case of compound verbs, especially when the etymology of the second part has been lost, thus :

po-hsaung to convey.

CGpSsojj yaimg:-cha to sell off.

C^oEjiS sie-htaing to reside.

OgoSooO kw 6-ka to protect.

[qOO pya-tha to show.

GOOSES the-hson : to die.

Gjcpo^ pyaw-hso to speak.

hson :-hpyat to decide (case), in which no phonetic change takes place. xxviii BURMESE MANUAL.

oSsoqjSs hkln : -gym: to arrange.

C ^8co$: taing-dan : to complain.

CCOoSso^ taung :-ban to entreat.

i^OCg sha-bwe to search (or.

©

in which the phonetic change occurs. (2) Nouns and pronouns immediately followed by the case affixes cQ ko 3002 a : c(ccp8 kyaung twin phm aor^i B (suppressed) are always pronounced with the abrupt tone. Note —This rule applies to compound nouns or pro­ nouns in which the first part of the compound is really a genitive with (fj) i suppressed.

cqcps CgJ^CCoS (your lordship’s royal slave = I) is pronounced : hpa-ya-kyun~daw,

COCpS (headman of the law = Judge) is pro­ nounced ta-ya-tha»$yi:

(3) When the first word or syllable ends in 8 ng or n or a hard consonant and the second word or syllable begins with n G m ° r a soft consonant, the n of the